# Authenticating Users with JUST Session Tokens in Sendbird React UI Kit: Why this is not possible?

**URL:** <https://community.sendbird.com/t/authenticating-users-with-just-session-tokens-in-sendbird-react-ui-kit-why-this-is-not-possible/7061>\
**Category:** Sendbird Chat UIKit\
**Created:** [April 19, 2023, 5:15am UTC](https://community.sendbird.com/t/authenticating-users-with-just-session-tokens-in-sendbird-react-ui-kit-why-this-is-not-possible/7061 "2023-04-19T05:15:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Xiang\_Li](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.sendbird.com/xiang_li/32/3902_2.png) [@Xiang\_Li](https://community.sendbird.com/u/Xiang_Li)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 5:15am UTC](https://community.sendbird.com/t/authenticating-users-with-just-session-tokens-in-sendbird-react-ui-kit-why-this-is-not-possible/7061/1 "2023-04-19T05:15:45Z")

</div>

I’m trying to use Sendbird to log in a user with just their `userId` or session token. However, it seems like the UIKit only supports logging in with an access token. I’ve tried using the following code, but it doesn’t work:

```auto
import "./styles.css";
import "sendbird-uikit/dist/index.css";
import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import SendbirdApp from "@sendbird/uikit-react/App";
import SessionHandler from '@sendbird/uikit-react/handlers/SessionHandler';
import { SENDBIRD_APP_ID } from "../../config";
import { getOrCreateSendbirdUser, requestSessionTokenById } from "../../lib/sendbird_apis";
import ChannelEventListeners from "./customized_app"

const configureSession = (userId) => {
  const sessionHandler = new SessionHandler();
  sessionHandler.onSessionTokenRequired = (resolve, reject) => {
    console.log('SessionHandler.onSessionTokenRequired()');
    requestSessionTokenById(userId)
        .then(token => {
          resolve(token);
        })
        .catch(err => reject(err));
  };
  sessionHandler.onSessionRefreshed = () => {
    console.log('SessionHandler.onSessionRefreshed()');
  };
  sessionHandler.onSessionError = (err) => {
    console.log('SessionHandler.onSessionError()', err);
  };
  sessionHandler.onSessionClosed = () => {
    console.log('SessionHandler.onSessionClosed()');
  };

  return sessionHandler;
}

const TopBar = ({ client, _appData }) => {
  const [sendbirdUser, setSendbirdUser] = useState(null);
  const [sessionToken, setSessionToken] = useState(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    const init = async () => {
      const zendeskUser = (await client.get("currentUser")).currentUser;
      const sbUser = await getOrCreateSendbirdUser(zendeskUser);
      const sbUserSessionToken = await requestSessionTokenById(sbUser.user_id)
      setSendbirdUser(sbUser);
      setSessionToken(sessionToken);

      console.log("setSendbirdUser", sbUser)
      console.log("setSessionToken", sbUserSessionToken)

      return client.invoke("resize", { width: "800px", height: "500px" });
    };
    init();
  }, [client]);

  if (!sendbirdUser) return null;

  return (
    <div className="App">
      <SendbirdApp
        appId={SENDBIRD_APP_ID}
        userId={sendbirdUser.user_id}
        configureSession={(sdk) => configureSession(sendbirdUser.user_id)}
        config={{
          logLevel: 'debug',
        }}
      >
        <ChannelEventListeners client={client} />
      </SendbirdApp>
    </div>
  );
};

export default TopBar;

```

Can someone confirm if this is true?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dbschmigelski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.sendbird.com/dbschmigelski/32/5433_2.png) [@dbschmigelski](https://community.sendbird.com/u/dbschmigelski)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 4:34am UTC](https://community.sendbird.com/t/authenticating-users-with-just-session-tokens-in-sendbird-react-ui-kit-why-this-is-not-possible/7061/2 "2024-09-12T04:34:36Z")

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Is there an update here? I am facing the same issue and this was posted over a year ago.